James was born and raised in Southern California, and earned an MA and PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a specialization in the sociology of religion, and he is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. His numerous articles have been published in such places as the Journal of Christian/Buddhist Studies, Buddhadharma and the American Journal of Sociology. His books include The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition, published by the Oxford University Press in 2001 and The Buddha’s Dream of Liberation: Freedom, Emptiness, and Awakened Nature published by Wisdom Publications in 2017, and he was the editor of Roshi Reb Anderson’s book on the Samdhinirmocana Sutra, The Third Turning of the Wheel (Rodmell Press, 2012). He is currently working on a book on Tara tentatively titled Becoming Tara. He has been a Buddhist practitioner in the Zen and Vajrayana traditions for over 30 years, and his root teacher, Lama Palden Drolma, has given him extensive transmissions on Tara practice. He is a founding member of the White Heron Sangha in San Luis Obispo, California where he currently teaches and practices.